Monday, 1 March 2010

Last night was a big night here in Canada. Our Winter Olympics wrapped up with what may have been the lamest closing ceremonies in history - and yes, I understand the intended parody, but it was parody done poorly.

The highlight for Canada was the overtime win over the USA in Men's Hockey to give Canada 14 Gold medals at these Olympics, the most ever won by a country at a Winter Games. It was cause for celebration and national pride.

I happened to be in downtown Toronto last night visiting a friend from Vancouver who was staying at the Royal York Hotel for a conference. We watched the game at his hotel and with about two minutes left in the third period I turned to him and said, "Wow, wouldn't things be more interesting if the USA scored a goal to tie the game and push it to overtime?" About a minute later that's exactly what happened/

After Canada won in overtime we headed into the streets of Toronto to get something to eat and ran right into an impromptu party on Front Street. There were high-fives aplenty as we found an eatery to our liking.

It was an exhilarating time to be a Canadian and to be in Canada's largest city with throngs of patriotic (and drunk) fans, but the real highlight for me was reconnecting with a great old friend.